April 24, 2014

Technical glitches hit SMS-based poll monitoring system in Chennai

It was heralded as a technological leap when it was launched by the Election Commission, but poor network coverage impeded the SMS-based system to monitor elections at various polling booths in Chennai on Thursday. The Times of India reports.

Officials said at several booths, the range was poor, as a result of which booth level officers were unable to communicate with senior officials.

The SMS-based alert system uses coded messages to collect data. It also helps in monitoring events down to a particular polling booth at the click of a mouse.

A senior election official said they were working to rectify these technical glitches. He, however, said more than 60% of the booth level officers in Chennai had sent SMSes about scheduled events like the staff reaching polling stations, mock polls conducted, the start of voting and the presence of agents.